Hello to all, I am in the process of purchasing a 3 acre property, on which I am building a house (and garage / barn), so I was looking around for something to mow with. Of course, I've been familiar with farmalls, mostly super A's, for a long time so that's what I was initially looking for. I found a 49 cub on c/l for cheap and inquired about it. The owner really tried to undersell it, which had me kind of confused for a bit. I've mowed with 140's and a belly mower before, never had a problem, this guy was telling me he didn't think this tractor would do 3 acres reliably. I arranged to see it, listened to it run (did not drive), seemed pretty solid to me so I bought it for 100 less than the advertised price. So... I'm pretty psyched, this is the first tractor I've ever really owned myself. The seller even agreed to store it at his place for a month or two till we got moved, very nice guy. Condition wise, it needs a few things right off, mostly brakes (according to the seller), a radiator (the seller has stop leak in, that'll have to go immediately) and one thing he didn't mention or notice is a good amount of corrosion around one of the valve stem holes on the rt. rear rim. I'm seriously looking to get this home asap so I can play with it a little. Anyway, the mowing comment kind of bothers me, any opinion on mowing with one of these? It has a belly mower attached, though I can't say the model right now, but I thought for certain it should do 3 acres OK. I listened to it run at his house and was very impressed, sounded fine to me. Condition wise the tractor is fairly straight, not a lot of dents, both headlights intact, the back up light is missing a lens. It looks to me like one rear wheel is mounted further out than the other, and the valve stem on that side is opposite the other so I'm sure it is. Right now my goal is to make it reliable, which I don't think is going to be an issue. My wife wants to restore it, but we'll see, it looks like a fine old lady as is. I'll post pics when I get it home, which will hopefully be this week, I don't want to wait till we move. Love the forum too, very informative.

Todd, welcome to the forum and congrats on your first Cub. Three acres will be a piece of cake for your Cub. I mow my 5 1/2 acres with one of mine and have no problems. If you have a lot of obstacles (trees, flower beds) you will find you won't make sharp turns around them.

Todd Porter wrote:a good amount of corrosion around one of the valve stem holes on the rt. rear rim.

More than likely the rear tires (or at least that one) is loaded with calcium chloride for weight. It will eat a rim up if it leaks from the tube.

You are not far from me. Try to make plans to attend the Barnyard Bash Cubfest June 1 and 2 in Harrison Ohio (18 miles west of Cincinnati). Bring the Cub along and the guys will look it over and give you an honest opinion of what you have (sounds like a good one so far). All it will cost you is your gas to get here and lodging at a local motel if you stay both days (many of the folks do.. The best part is you will meet some of the finest Cub guys around and gain an enormous amount of knowledge about your Cub. Check out http://www.barnyardbash.com for more info. Since your wife is interested in the Cub (a good thing) bring her along. Many of the other wives will be here also.

Last edited by Barnyard on Sat May 19, 2012 10:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.- Franklin D. Roosevelt -

Welcome to the club. I mow 2.75 acres with mine all the time, no problems. There is a cubfest up in OH the first weekend in June, good place to have us help check it out and to meet a lot of fine cub folks.

Welcome to the site ,,,,,,,, I mowed my 2.25 acre lawn for years with the Cub and it did okay and was topshelf in the fun department traffic often slowed down to see the Cub, now I mow with a Z rider get done super quick and a better cut, nut the traffic never slows down to look at a Z rider, thats just proof that Cubs are Cool

Todd, Welcome to the Forum. Be sure and ask any questions you might have. As others have said, 3 acres is no sweat. I mow about 4 of pasture with a belly mount mower, and cut another 7 with a sickle mower for hay. You'll have a great time with it.

Thanks for all the friendly responses, I'm itching to get it home. I don't have a trailer at this time, but I have a nephew with quite a few. Waiting on him to call back. I'll try to post pics when I get it home. As far as trees are concerned, there's not a single one on the property we bought...yet. There will be dozens in a few years, the wife loves her trees. I'm trying to talk her into buying a lowboy I found in the next town over, it's a later model one. No idea how much it's selling for, but my rationalization is: if you want to restore the 49, I got to have something to mow with in the meantime. Makes sense, doesn't it? Plus, I could set the 49 up for gardening, the low boy for mowing. This is just common sense...right? I'd have to decline the invite to cubfest, I imagine I'll be packing and having a moving sale by then. I'd love to see some pics though, cubs are cool. Thanks again.

Congrats on acquiring your very 1st new to you Cub And Yeah ... I usually say be careful they are addictive and it is hard to just have one ... but I see you already have that one under control or lack of as the case may be IH designed the Cub for farms under 40 acres and they proved their worth rather quickly. They were also designed for a 7 year life span and well we know how that worked out don't we So have no fear - your 49 will more than do all that you will ask of it. My Cubs regularly plow the gardens, cultivate, haul a ground driven potato digger, haul my fire wood both in 4 foot and 16" lengths, plow snow and now splits all my firewood. This will be the third season that Ellie my 48 does this job. I am hoping that Granny my 47 will be powering the saw table - beats the heck out of a Tecumseh Sno King.

Suggest you follow the links below. The Owner's Manual for your '49 is available there. Read that and get familiar with your Cub before you get her home. There are also manuals for the Lo-Boy as well. There are also the Numbered Cub Series which are an estate style tractor and they perform very well as mowers - share much of the same power train as the standard cultivision Cubs and they are worth having a look at as well. Can't say that I like them much but many do, so you have options